Chess - The Scotsman 04/07/13

JOHN HENDERSON

THE HIPPOPOTAMUS Defence has proved to be a great way to avoid long theoretical duels by transferring the struggle of the game to the middlegame. The idea is Black will construct a solid, stable yet flexible position, wait to see what White is doing and react accordingly.

Most of the early pioneering work on “the Hippo” was done by Slovakian International Master Maximilian Ujtelky in the 1950s and 60s – but it only became “respectable” overnight at top level, as Boris Spassky stunned the chess world by deploying it twice against Tigran Petrosian during their 1966 world championship match in Moscow.

One of today’s best hypermodern players is Sweden’s Tiger Hillarp Persson. And writing in his book, Tiger’s Modern, he describes it thus: “[T]he Hippo lies low in the water. It looks almost ridiculously passive and many theoreticians consider the Hippo to be a peaceful, almost meek animal. But nothing could be further from the truth. On closer scrutiny the animal, the position, and the statistics look almost entirely different. The Hippo is a fierce animal; ready to crush anyone who gets too close.”

But recent research by The World Conservation Union has placed Hippos on the endangered species list – and it could well be the same over the chessboard, as former World champion Vladimir Kramnik ruthlessly hunts one down during his Geneva Masters semifinal blitz decider against Hikaru Nakamura.